Door latch



May 20, 1958 H. E. VAN VOORHEES 2, DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 30, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR H. E. VAN VOORHEES 2,835,526

DOOR LATCH May 20, 1958 Filed Dec. 50, 4952- 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR irab' Zwiaaziea:

BY 9 ATTORNEYS May 20, 1958 H. E. VAN VOORHEE S DOOR LATCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 50, 1952 Ill / ATTORNEYS May 20, 1958 H. E. VAN VOORHEES 2,835,526

DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 30, 1952 ,4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ATTORNFYQ United States Patent DGOR LATCH Harold E. Van Voorhees, Grosse Pointe Woods, Micl 1., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application December 30, 1952, Serial No. 32%,729

2 Claims. 01. 29:216

This invention relates to door latches, and more particularly to automobile door latches.

In modern automobiles the trend of body design is such that there is progressively less space available in the door and on the door pillar for the door latching mechanism. Presently used latch mechanisms are complex devices which must be operable from inside and out side of the automobile, and which also must be able to be locked against operation, at least from outside the automobile. The latch mechanism should also embody certain desirable features, such as pushbutton operation from outside the automobile, keyless locking from outside the automobile, and automatic undogging, which means that if the door is closed with the latch in locked position, the latch will be automatically 'undogged or moved to unlocked position unless the operator consciously desires to lock the door.

In addition, modern automobile latches must hold the door securely latched and must be easy to operate despite relatively heavy sealing pressure. Particularly if a pushbuttonlatch release mechanism is used instead of a turn handle, ease of operation of the latch is atl'lltl portant factor.

The invention provides an improved and simplified automobile door latch which is designed for pushbutton operation from theoutside, which includes keyless locking, and which also provides for automatic undogging of the latch so that the operator cannot .lock the or from the outside unless he consciously desires to do so. The latch disclosed herein provides for easy door closing, even when misalignment of the latch bolt and the striker is present.

The improved latch, while it includes the desired features pointed'out above, is of much simpler construction than latches in the prior art and requires lower force to operate. Since the improved'latch contains only a fraciton f the parts found in comparable latches in the prior artgit may be lbuilt'less expensively, and it operates more easily because of reduced friction. There is less manufacturing difiiculty in mass production of "the latch since there are fewer interrelated parts wherein manufacturing tolerances may build up. As the number of parts is decreased, the buildup or cumulative effect of automobile doorand lock pillar, showing .a general view of the improved slatch;

Fig. 2 .is an elevational view of the preferred-form of latch;

2,835,526 Patented May 20, 1958 ice .Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Fig. 4, but looking from the other side of the mechanism along the line 7-7 of Fig. 1, parts being shown in solid lines in one position and in broken lines in another position;

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section taken along the line 8-4? of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modified form of latch bolt;

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectiontaken along the line ill-10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 looking from the other side of the latch frame plate;

Fig. 12 is affragmentary view similar to Fig. 4, but showing another modified form of latch bolt;

Fig. 13 is a vertical section taken along the line 13-13 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the latch of Fig. 12, parts being shown in solid lines in one position and'in broken lines in another position; and

Fig. 15 is a view of the striker for the lock of Figs. 12-14.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 18 of the drawings, the improved latch is carried on a frame com prising a longitudinal plate and a transverse plate 21. The plate 20 is secured to the inner panel of an automobile door 22, and the transverse plate 21 lies in a plane parallel to the edge of the door, being secured to the door pillar by screws 24 (Fig. 8) passing through countersunk openings 23 in the transverse plate 21.

The transverse plate 21 has rotatably mounted thereon a latch bolt 25 which is-of generally circular form, having latching teeth 26 on a portion of its periphery and ratchet teeth 28 on a different portion of its periphery. Two teeth in each group are required to provide for safety position and latched position of the door. The latch bolt 25 is partially enclosed in a housing 30 and is rotatably supportedon the plate 21 by means of a stud 32. .In order to hold bolt 25 in position so that latching teeth 26 will properly engage the striker when the door is being closed, a spring 34 (Figs. 4 and 6) is provided for yieldably positioning the 'bolt 25 in unlatched position, and stop means .36 and 37 on the plate 21 are adapted to engage a pin 38 on the bolt 25 to limit rotation of the bolt through an are between latched and released positions.

When the door is closed latching teeth 26 of bolt 25 engage complementary teeth 42 on a striker 44 which is fixedly mounted on the lock pillar 46 (Figs. 1 and 8-) of the automobile by means of bolts 47. The striker has a slot 48 for receiving a male dovetail member 49 which is carried on plate 21, the upper surface of member 49 engaging the lower surface of a conventional spring biased, slidably mounted shoe 59 on the striker 44, so that the door is firmly latched and properly aligned when closed. t

A hook lever 51 is pivotally mounted on the transverse plate 21 by means of a stud 52, the lever 51 having at one-end a hook portion 53 movable into and out of en-' gagement with the ratchet portion of the bolt 25. The other end of the .hook lever extends through an opening in the longitudinal plate 20 and terminates in a turned ear 5 i- Means are provided for unlatching the door from the inside and from the outside thereof. The outside unlatching means comprises a member 56 which is pivotally mounted on the longitudinal plate 20 by means of an integral shank portion 57 which extends through an opening in plate 20 and is staked, as shown in Fig. 3. over the outside surface of plate 20 to provide a pivotal mounting for member 56. A yoke 60 is pivotally mounted between integral tabs 61 and 62 which project from the pivotally mounted member 56, a pin 63 providing a mounting for this yoke. Between arms 64 and 65 of the yoke, a pin 66 provides a pivotal mounting for a longitudinally shiftable member 68 which has at its free end a lug 69. A spring 70 (Figs. 2, 3 and 8) between yoke 60 and the longitudinally shiftable member 68 urges yoke 60 in a clockwise direction as the parts appear in Fig. 3 so that the longitudinally shiftable member is yieldably biased into a retracted position. The shank portion 57 of the pivotally mounted member 56 has a rectangular axial opening 71 through which projects an actuating rod 72. This rod may be actuated from the outside of the automobile by means of a pushbutton and by means of a key in conventional manner.

The provision of a pivotally mounted member 56 with a rectangular opening at its pivotal axis receiving the pushbutton operated actuating rod 72 comprises an improvement over conventional pushbutton operated keyless locking latch devices, wherein the pivotal axis of the member 56 has conventionally been at a point spaced from the point of entry of the operating rod 72. This conventional structure required more parts than is required in the improved lock and made it necessary to extend the length of the shiftable member 68 and associated parts of the latch.

In order to operate the latch from the outside of the automobile, a conventional outside pushbutton is manually pushed, shifting rod 72 to the left as the parts appear in Figs. 3 and 4 and pivoting yoke 60 in a counterclockwise direction so that pin 66 which mounts the shiftable member 68 moves downwardly, and member 68 is shifted longitudinally downwardly as the parts appear in Figs. 3 and 4. The free end portion of member 68 engages ear 54 on hook lever 51 and pivots the hook lever in a counterclockwise direction (see'Fig. 4) so that the ratchet engaging portion 53 of the hook lever moves out of engagement with ratchet teeth 28 of latch bolt 25. When pressure is exerted to open the door with the parts in this position, latch bolt 25 will roll out of engagement with keeper teeth 42, the lineal movement of the bolt 25 being to the right and the rotatable movement being clockwise as the parts appear in Fig. 4, and the reverse in Fig. 7.

When the door is opened slowly, latch bolt 25 will not rotate freely, or coast, so that teeth 26 would normally be in position to engage striker teeth 42 when the door is again closed; however, should the door be opened rapidly so that the latch bolt rotates freely, or should the latch bolt be manually rotated while the door is open, the bolt would not be in proper latching position when the door is again closed since the latching teeth do not extend entirely around the periphery of the bolt. In order to insure that the bolt is always in latching position when the door is closed, spring 34 and stop means including pin 38 and stop member 37 are provided. In addition to yieldably holding the bolt in unlatched position whenever the door is open, spring 34 also provides some force to assist in opening the door when the latch is released.

In order to lock the door, the assembly including the shiftable member 68 and pivotal member 56 is pivoted from the unlocked position of Fig. 2 to a locked position wherein the shiftable member 68 is swung in a clockwise direction through a few degrees of movement so that when said member is shifted longitudinally it merely moves freely and does not engage the ear 54 of the book 4 lever. Thislocking operation may be accomplished by turning pivoted member 56 by means of actuating rod 72 through a conventional keyeoperated lock device.

It is also possible to lock the door from the inside by pushing down on a garnish molding button 75 (Fig. 1) which is connected by an actuating rod 76 to one end of a link 77. The link is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on a stud 78 and has a slot 79 adjacent its other end through which projects a pin 80 which is mounted on a projecting portion 56a of the pivotally mounted member 56. When the garnish molding button 75 is depressed, the link 77 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction as the parts appear in Fig. 2, causing the member 56 to pivot in a clockwise direction and move the shiftable member 68 to locked or inoperative position. An overcenter spring 81 holds the pivotal member 56 in either locked or unlocked position.

A second means is provided for operating the latch by a remotely located inside door handle 82. An arm 83 is connected to handle 82, and an actuating rod 84 connects this arm with a member 85 which is pivotally mounted on the plate 20 by means of a stud 86. A spring 88 connected between member 85 and plate 20 biases the member 85 counterclockwise as the parts appear in Fig. 2 to provide a yieldable means for holding the hook portion 53 of the hook lever 51 in position where it will engage the ratchet teeth 28 of the latch when the door is closed. Member 85 has jaw portions 90 and 91 with an opening 92 between them for receiving car 54 to provide a movable connection between the pivotal member 85 and the hook lever 51. A curved arm 94 on the pivoted member 85 provides automatic undogging of the latch, lug 69 normally lying in the path of movement of arm 94 so that if the door is slammed shut without pushing in on the pushbutton the parts will move to unlocked position.

The operation of the latch is as follows: When the door is open the spring 34 and stop member 37 automatically hold the latch bolt 25 in unlatched position. When the door is closed, the teeth 26 of the latch bolt engage the teeth 42 of the striker, and this engagement, in combination with the engagement of the dovetail member 49 and sliding shoe 50, holds the door latched. Because of the rolling engagement between the bolt teeth 26 and the striker teeth 42 close tolerances are not necessary in order for the door to latch, and the door will latch even if it is cooked or misaligned more than 10 degrees.

When the door is latched, it may be locked from the inside by depressing the garnish molding button 75, or it may be locked from the outside by means of a conventional key-operated lock which rotates the actuating rod 72 through an arc. Either action pivots the member 56 and the shiftable member 68 in a clockwise direction so that shiftable member 68 is no longer aligned with ear 54v of hook lever 51. Keyless locking may be accomplished by depressing the garnish molding button 75 while the door is open, which pivots the shiftable member to a position where it is out of alignment with ear 54 of book lever 51. Now if the conventional outside pushbutton is pushed inwardly while the dor is being slammed shut, shiftable member 68 will be shifted longitudinally so that lug 69 on said member is out of the path of movement of arm 94 of the pivoted member 85. When the door closes, the hook member will ride up over the apex of ratchet teeth 28, as indicated fragmentarily in Fig. 7. Since the ear 54 of the hook lever 51 is connected to the pivoted member 85 by means of jaws 90 and 91 the pivoted member 85 will pivot in a clockwise direction as the parts appear in Fig. 2; however, since the shiftable member 68 has moved downwardly from the position of Fig. 2, lug 69 on said member will be out of the path of movement of arm 94 and said arm will pass freely under the shank of member 68 and will-not shift said member back to unlockedposition.

It is impossible to utilize the keylesslocking feature Without conscious effort on the part of the operaton since if he fails to depress thegpushbutton while the door is being closed, member 68 will notbe shifted-longitudinally, and when the door is closed arm 94 will engage lug 69 on member 68 and pivot member 68 back to the unlocked position which is illustrated in Fig. '2, wherein shifting movement of the member 68 will cause the free end of said member to engage ear 54 of hook lever 51. The door may be opened from the outside when the member 68 is in its unlocked position by pushing a convential pushbutton, which moves the actuating rod '72 longitudinally and shifts the member'68 longitudinally into engagement with the ear 54 of the hook lever 51. When the door is locked, the pushbutton, the actuating rod 72 and shiftable member 68 free wheel in the sense that they may be freely operated but do not engage the unlatching lever.

The door may be opened from the inside whether it is locked or not by turning the inside remote handle 82 which moves actuating rod 84 and pivots member 85 clockwise as shown in Fig. 2 so that hook lever 51 is lifted out of engagement with the ratchet portion of the latch bolt. If the door is locked at the time it is opened from the inside, the arm 94 will shift member 68 back to unlocked position so that the operator will not be locked out when the door is closed. I

The latch is so constructed that there are no operating parts on the inner surface of the transverse plate portion 21, thus leaving a maximum amount of room adjacent said surface for the glass run channel 95 (Fig. 8) which guides the door window 96. This feature makes the latch particularly adaptable for automobile doors where the space is limited.

Figs. 9, l0, and 11 show a modified form of latch which is identical with the latch of Figs. 18 so far as the inside and outside unlatching mechanisms are concerned, but which differs from the latch of Figs. l8 in the form of latch bolt and hook lever. Inasmuch as the operating parts of the latch which are shown in detail in Fig. 2 are similar, they are not shown again in detail in Figs/9, 10, and 11, and such of these parts as are shown in Figs. 9, 10, and 11 are designated by the same reference characters as in Figs. 1 to S.

In Fig. 10, the transverse frame plate 21 has ala'tch bolt 100 freely rotatably mounted thereon by a shank 101 on the latch bolt which is journaled through an opening in the plate 21 and a pin 102 which projects through an opening in a housing 104 fixed on the plate 21 and extends into an axial bore in the latch bolt 100. The latch bolt 100 is formed as a gear with teeth 106 which extend entirely around its periphery, this construction eliminating the necessity for putting the latch bolt in latching position when the door is open. The provision of teeth entirely around the periphery also lengthens the life of the latch bolt, since the wear is distributed among the various teeth as the bolt rotates during operation. In this latch, housing 104 may act as a dovetail member, engaging a complementary member on the lock pillar 46 and therefore, eliminating the need for the dovetail member 49 of Figs. 2, 4 and 7.

On the opposite side of plate 21 from the bolt 100, a ratchet wheel 108 is nonrotatably mounted on the shank 101. The ratchet wheel 103 has teeth 109 which extend entirely around its periphery, each of the teeth 109 preferably being directly opposite one of the teeth 106 of bolt 100. Hook lever 110 is pivotally mounted on the frame 21 by means of a stud 112, lever 110 having at one end a hook portion 114 which rides on the periphery of the ratchet wheel 1%, being urged toward the ratchet wheel by a spring 115. At its other end the hook lever 110 has an car 116 similar to the ear 54 shown in Figs. 2 and 4. This car is adapted to be engaged by the longitudinally B shiftable member 68 to operate the latch from outside the automobile, and the ear is connected to the pivoted member in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 2.

The latch of Figs.'9, 10, and 11 has advantages over the latch of Figs. 1 to 8 in that the latch bolt is of simpler construction, need not be returned to a latch engaging position When the door is open, and has a plurality of teeth, each of which may take a portion of the wear. However, in the latch of Figs. 9, 10, and 11, ratchet wheel 108, hook lever 110, and spring are all mounted on the inner surface of the transverse plate 21 so that there is less room inside the door for the glass run channel and, therefore, the latch of Figs. 9, 10, and 11 is not as well adapted for use in automobiles having relatively small bodies as is the latch in Figs. 1 to 8.

Figs. 12, 13, and 14 show another modified form of latch in which the operating mechanism is the same as that shown in Figs. l to 8, but in which the bolt comprises a pivoted lift bolt rather than a rotatable type of bolt as found in the earlier modifications.

In this second modification, the transverse plate 21 has an arcuate slot through which projects a lift bolt shank 152 having at its free end a roller 154 of nylon or similar material. The shank 152 is mounted on a lever 156 by staking as shown at 157 in Fig. 13. Lever 156 is pivotally mounted on frame 21 by means of a stud 158, and ratchet teeth 160 are formed on the lever 156, these teeth being engageable by a hook lever 162 having a ratchet engaging hook portion 163. The hook lever 162 is pivoted on a stud 164 and the hook portion 163 is urged into engagement with ratchet teeth 160 by a bolt operating spring166 which is connected between ratchet lever 156 and hook lever 162. The other end of the hook lever extends through an opening in the frame and is provided with an ear 168 which is adapted to be engaged by the longitudinally shiftahle'member 68 (see also Fig. 2) upon shifting thereof, and which is connected to the pivoted member 85 in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 2. The hook lever is also provided with a projection 1'70 adapted to engage a rubber bumper 172 on the plate 21 to deaden noise caused by the operation of the hook lever.

The latch bolt 152 is cammed to latched position when the door is closed by means of a striker (Fig. 15) on the lock pillar 4-6, a dovetail member 174 on the plate 21 cooperating with a shoe on the striker member in a manner similar to that shown in 'Fig. 7 to hold the door aligned in latched position. The arrangement of the latch bolt shown in Figs. 12-14 is advantageous over conventionally used latch bolts in that the force exerted on the bolt when the door is being closed is taken up by the mounting stud 158 rather than by the edges of the slot 150, so that in the event of misalignment of the parts, the latch may be subjected to a high pressure in the order of 1000 pounds or more without damage.

While I have shown and described several embodiments of my invention, it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended-claims.

I claim:

1. A door latch of the character described, including: a frame; a bolt housing on the frame, said bolt housing being open at its bottom end; a latch bolt pivotally mounted on the frame in the bolt housing, said latch bolt having a plurality of latching teeth on the lower portion of its-periphery projecting out of the open bottom end of said housing and said latch bolt having a plurality of ratchet teeth on the upper portion of its periphery in the same plane as the latching teeth; a stop pin projecting axially from a face of said bolt; a pair of stop lugs projecting from the frame into the housing for abutment with said pin to limit pivotal movement of the bolt in two directions; a spring connected between said pin and the frame for yieldably urging said bolt toward unlatched position; a detent pivotally mounted in said housing, said detent having a foot adapted to be moved into engagement with the ratchet teeth of said bolt to hold the bolt against pivotal movement in an unlatching direction, said detent having an integral operating portion extending out of said housing and terminating in a turned ear; first operating means including a shiftable member mounted in a pivotal member on said frame, said shiftable member being longitudinally shiftable between a retracted position and an extended position in which latter position is adapted to engage the car on the detent and swing the detent out of holding engagement with the bolt; means for pivoting said shiftable member for movement between a locked position in which the shiftable member is out of alignment with said ear and an unlocked position in which the shiftable member is in alignment with said ear; spring means yieldably holding said shiftable member in either of said locked and unlocked positions; second operating means including a pivoted member on the frame connected directly to the ear of said detent; spring means connected between said frame and pivoted member for yieldably urging said pivoted member in a direction to move said detent into engagement with the ratchet teeth on the bolt, said pivoted member having an integral arm adapted to engage the shiftable member and move it from locked to unlocked position when said pivoted member is moved and said shiftable member is in retracted position, said arm bypassing the shiftable member when the pivoted member is moved and the shiftable member is in extended position; and means for swinging said pivoted member.

2. A door latch of the character described, including: a frame; a bolt housing on the frame, said bolt housing being open at one end; a latch bolt pivotally mounted on the frame in the bolt housing, said latch bolt having a plurality of latching teeth on one portion of its periphery projecting out of the open end of said housing and said latch bolt having a plurality of ratchet teeth on another portion of its periphery in the same plane as the latching teeth; a stop pin projecting axially from a face of said bolt; stop means in the housing adapted to abut said pin to limit pivotal movement of the bolt; a spring connected between said pin and the frame for yieldably urging said bolt toward unlatched position; a detent pivotally mounted in said housing, said detent having a foot adapted to be moved into engagement with the ratchet teeth of said bolt to hold the bolt against pivotal move ment in an unlatching direction, said detent having an integral operating portion extending out of said housing and terminating in 2. turned ear; first operating means including a shiftable member mounted in a pivotal member on said frame, said shiftable member being longitudinally shiftable between a retracted position and an extended position in which latter position it is adapted to engage the ear on the detent and swing the detent out of holding engagement with the bolt; means for pivoting said shiftable member for movement between a locked position in which the shiftable member is out of alignment with. said ear and an unlocked position in which the shiftable member is in alignment with said ear; spring means yieldably holding said shiftable member in either of said locked and unlocked positions; second operating means including a pivoted member on the frame connected directly to the ear of said detent; spring means connected between said frame and pivoted member for yieldably urging said pivoted member in a direction to move said detent into engagement with the ratchet teeth on the bolt, said pivoted member having an integral arm adapted to engage the shiftable member and move it from locked to unlocked position when said pivoted member is moved and said shiftable member is in retracted position, said arm by-passing the shiftable member when the pivoted member is moved and the shiftable member is in extended position; and means for swinging said pivoted member.

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